Italian Ceramics Group Seeks Refinancing on Pemberton Debt

Giulia Morpurgo and Antonio Vanuzzo, Bloomberg News

Pedestrians talk in front of Italy's Stock Exchange, the Borsa Italiana, which is part of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, in Milan Italy, on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. London Stock Exchange Group Plc is nearing the sale of Borsa Italiana to Euronext NV and two Italian institutions for about 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) including debt, according to people familiar with the transaction. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Italcer SpA is looking to refinance debt provided by Pemberton Asset Management ahead of a looming maturity deadline.

The Italian ceramics group, owned by private equity firm Mindful Capital Partners, needs to address around €200 million ($214 million) of private bonds supplied by Pemberton and coming due in October, said people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Representatives for Mindful Capital Partners, Italcer and Pemberton declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Pemberton doled out the funding in three separate tranches to help Italcer’s expansion via acquisitions in recent years, according to an annual report seen by Bloomberg News.

In 2018 Pemberton provided €133 million for Italcer to take over Rondine, another Italian ceramics group. The remaining bonds were issued for the acquisitions of Spain’s Equipe and Italy-based Fondovalle in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

The financing, maturing on Oct. 15, was issued at a margin of 675 basis points over 3-month Euribor. The Pemberton debt constitutes the great majority of Italcer’s liabilities.

Italcer reported consolidated net sales of €342 million in 2023 and Ebitda of €81 million. Italcer has been eyeing an initial public offering in Milan for the last few years, according to a company report from 2023, though that hasn’t materialized yet.

--With assistance from Francesca Veronesi.